Download The Greek Civilization

The Greek Civilization
Ancient Greek History
One of the ancient birth places of human civilization is attributed to Greece,
along with Persian civilizations, Egyptian civilizations and Indian civilizations. From
the primitive inhabitations of the man-kind in caves and barbaric cultures being
adopted in the jungle life, civilizations reformed the human race to more mature and
realistic ways of life till date. Greek history dates back to 2800 years BC, even though
varied claims are made by the historians, from the Minoan civilization followed by
the invasion of the Mycenaean into mainland Greece.
Dark Ages start from 1200 BC by the Dorian invasion with superior weapons
made of iron to end the Mycenaean's' era. But authentic Greek Civilizations History
begins with the Roman Empire and the Olympic Games of 776 BC. With the death of
Alexander the Great, in 323 BC, the traditional period in history of the Greek comes
to an end.
According to many historians the ancient Greek civilization is foundational for
the culture of Western Civilization and continues to be so, till today.
Greek culture had its influence to a great extent in the entire Europe in
- basics and fundamentals
education in Greek - including curriculum
- in its diverse nature
- of all fields
Greek Civilisation Architecture - in designing the features
After undergoing many a turbulent periods of Kings and rulers, the effects of
World Wars I and II, the modern Greece of today breathes the freshness of democracy.
The strides made in the economic growth are remarkable after joining the European
Union in 2001.
Greek Philosophy
. (1)Etymological Approach
One approach to this answering the question "What is Greek philosophy" is to
explore the etymology of the Greek word "philosophy" (philosophia). The term
"philosophy" is a compound word, composed of two parts: philos (love) and sophia
(wisdom), so that literally it means love of wisdom. To be a philosopher is to love
wisdom.
Does an analysis of the etymology of the term "philosophy" help in
understanding its meaning of the term for ancient Greeks? When one knows that it
means "love of wisdom" does this explain what the ancient Greeks intended by the
term "philosophy"? Unfortunately, etymology is of little use in this case. The first
part of the term philosophy (philos = love) is easy to understand, denoting a "fondness
for" or "attraction to." To love is to place a value on something, so that the one who
loves wisdom considers it worthy of pursuit. The problem that arises, however, is
defining the term "wisdom" (sophia) as ancient Greeks would have understood it. The
term is not so easily explained. Nevertheless, this much seems clear: since it was
something to be loved and valued, it seems that the ancient Greeks believed that
wisdom did not come naturally to the human beings. Normally, the things that are
commonplace and ubiquitous are taken for granted. Indeed, as will become evident,
ancient Greeks assumed that wisdom was inaccessible to all but the intellectually
capable and determined, so that its possession was rare and highly prized.
(2)Phenomenological Approach
Defining the term "philosophy" phenomenologically is to determine its meaning
by means of ascertaining the phenomenon or experience that people (in this case,
ancient Greeks) are describing when they use the term. Now, one cannot assume that a
term such as philosophy has the same meaning when used by all ancient
Greeks. Also one should not assume that one is not doing "philosophy" if one does
not use the term to describe one’s activities. Nevertheless, there was a core meaning
of the term "philosophy," as used by ancient Greeks: philosophy was a knowledge of
the way things really were as opposed to the way things appeared to be. Philosophy as
a discipline invariably assumed that the "world" constructed uncritically and naturally
from data derived from the five senses was ultimately illusory; one could call this the
world of common sense. For the ancient Greek philosopher, Reality was uncommon,
quite different from the world of common sense. Although it is dangerous to
generalize, because there was great diversity among Greek philosophers, for the
ancient Greeks the philosopher sought to know that Reality concealed and distorted
by the world of common sense. This knowledge was the wisdom that philosophers
loved.
Generally for the ancient Greeks, to be a philosopher was to seek and obtain
an all-inclusive knowledge, which one could describe as the knowledge of Being
(what is). (Being is the most abstract of all terms, for it means everything that is; as
such Reality is a synonym for Being.) Thus the philosopher, as the Greeks understood
it, sought to understand the Whole (another synonym for Being). The goal was to
know Being in its basic structure, not in all its multifarious detail, for it was assumed
that the details of one’s existence become intelligible when one understood them in
relation to the Whole. To use a metaphor from the building trade, the Greek
philosopher was one who sought to understand the framework in relation to which all
the details of existence were set. A house is the totality of its parts, but only when
organized in a certain way, since a pile of building materials is not a house. It is the
framer who gives the house its basic shape or structure; all the details of a house are
set in relation to the framework. By analogy, for the ancient Greeks, philosophy was
the attempt at understanding the framework of Being, the basic "shape or structure" of
Being, in relation to which all the details of existence were set.
It is important to note that for the ancient Greeks, philosophy as knowledge of
Reality or Being affected how a person lived; in other words, philosophy had ethical
implications. What a philosopher knew was not merely theoretical knowledge,
unrelated to the other aspects of human existence. The ancient Greeks assumed that
one ought to live one’s life in conformity to the way things really were; otherwise, one
could not be happy, not to mention that fact that one would be a hypocrite. But again,
how one ought to live was thought to be concealed from human beings, not being
self-evident; what appeared to be a means of happiness usually was not. Only the
philosopher knew how to live, because ethics has its origin in a knowledge of Reality
or Being: to know the Whole is to know one’s place in relation to the Whole.
Ancient Greek Art
The art of ancient Greece has exercised an enormous influence on the culture of
many countries from ancient times until the present, particularly in the areas of
sculpture and architecture. In the West, the art of the Roman Empire was largely
derived from Greek models.
In the East, Alexander the Great's conquests initiated several centuries of
exchange between Greek, Central Asian and Indian cultures, resulting in
Greco-Buddhist art, with ramifications as far as Japan. Following the Renaissance in
Europe, the humanist aesthetic and the high technical standards of Greek art inspired
generations of European artists. Well into the 19th century, the classical tradition
derived from Greece dominated the art of the western world.
(1)Definitions
Art historians generally define Ancient Greek art as the art produced in the
Greek-speaking world from about 1000 BC to about 100 BC. They generally exclude
the art of the Mycenaean and Minoan civilisations, which flourished from about 1500
to about 1200 BC. Despite the fact that these were Greek-speaking cultures, there is
little or no continuity between the art of these civilizations and later Greek art.
At the other end of the time-scale, art historians generally hold that Ancient
Greek art as a distinct culture ended with the establishment of Roman rule over the
Greek-speaking world in about 100 BC.
After this date they argue, Greco-Roman art, though often impressive in scale,
was largely derivative of earlier Greek models, and declined steadily in quality until
the advent of Christianity brought the classical tradition to an end in the 5th century
AD.
There is also a question relating to the word "art" in Ancient Greece.
The Ancient Greek word 'tekhni', which is commonly translated as "art," more
accurately means "skill" or "craftsmanship" (the English word "technique" derives
from it). Greek painters and sculptors were craftsmen who learned their trade as
apprentices, often being apprenticed to their fathers, and who were then hired by
wealthy patrons. Although some became well-known and much admired, they were
not in the same social position as poets or dramatists. It was not until the Hellenistic
period (after about 320 BC) that "the artist" as a social category began to be
recognised.
(2)Styles and Periods
The art of Ancient Greece is usually divided stylistically into three periods: the
Archaic, the Classical and the Hellenistic. As noted above, the Archaic age is usually
dated from about 1000 BC, although in reality little is known about art in Greece
during the preceding 200 years (traditionally known as the Dark Ages). The onset of
the Persian Wars (480 BC to 448 BC) is usually taken as the dividing line between the
Archaic and the Classical periods, and the reign of Alexander the Great (336 BC to
323 BC) is taken as separating the Classical from the Hellenistic periods.
In reality, there was no sharp transition from one period to another. Forms of art
developed at different speeds in different parts of the Greek world, and as in any age
some artists worked in more innovative styles than others. Strong local traditions,
conservative in character, and the requirements of local cults, enable historians to
locate the origins even of displaced works of art.
(3)Surviving Remnants and Artifacts
Ancient Greek art has survived most successfully in the forms of sculpture and
architecture, as well as in such minor arts as coin design, pottery and gem engraving.
From the Archaic period a great deal of painted pottery survives, but these remnants
give a misleading impression of the range of Greek artistic expression.
The Greeks, like most European cultures, regarded painting as the highest form
of art. The painter Polygnotus of Thasos, who worked in the mid 5th century BC, was
regarded by later Greeks in much the same way that people today regard Leonardo or
Michelangelo, and his works were still being admired 600 years after his death.
Today none of his works survives, not even as copies. Greek painters worked
mainly on wooden panels, and these perished rapidly after the 4th century AD, when
they were no longer actively protected.
Today nothing survives of Greek painting, except some examples of painted terra
cotta and a few paintings on the walls of tombs, mostly in Macedonia and Italy. Of the
masterpieces of Greek painting we have only a few copies from Roman times, and
most are of inferior quality.
The techniques involved, however, were very different from those used in
large-format painting.
Even in the fields of sculpture and architecture, only a fragment of the total
output of Greek artists survives. For the Christians of the 4th and 5th centuries,
smashing a pagan idol was an act of piety. One of the sad facts of ancient history is
that when marble is burned, lime is produced, and that was also the fate of the great
bulk of Greek marble statuary during the Middle Ages.
Likewise, the acute shortage of metal during the Middle Ages led to the majority
of Greek bronze statues being melted down. Those statues which had survived did so
primarily because they had been buried and forgotten, or as in the case of bronzes
having been lost at sea.
The great majority of Greek buildings have not survived : they were either
pillaged in war, looted for building materials or destroyed in Greece 箂 many
earthquakes. Only a handful of temples, such as the Parthenon and the Temple of
Hephaestus in Athens, have been spared.
Of the four Wonders of the World created by the Greeks - the Statue of Zeus at
Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Colossus of Rhodes and Lighthouse
of Alexandria) - nothing whatever survives.
As for the Archaic period of Greek art, painted pottery and sculpture are almost
the only forms of art which have survived in any quantity.
Painting was in its infancy during this period, and no examples of it have
survived. Although coins were invented in the mid 7th century BC, they were not
common in most of Greece until the 5th century.
Ancient Greek Literature
It refers to literature written in the Greek language until the 4th century AD.
(1)Classical and Pre-Classical Antiquity
This period of Greek literature stretches from Homer until the 4th century BC
and the rise of Alexander the Great. Alfred North Whitehead once claimed that all of
philosophy is but a footnote to Plato. To suggest that all of Western literature is no
more than a footnote to the writings of ancient Greece is an exaggeration, but it is
nevertheless true that the Greek world of thought was so far-ranging that there is
scarcely an idea discussed today not already debated by the ancient writers.
The earliest known Greek writings are Mycenaean, written in the Linear B
syllabary on clay tablets. These documents contain prosaic records largely concerned
with trade (lists, inventories, receipts, etc.); no real literature has been discovered.
Several theories have been advanced to explain this curious absence. One is that
Mycenaean literature, like the works of Homer and other epic poems, was passed on
orally, since the Linear B syllabary is not well-suited to recording the sounds of Greek
(see phonemic principle). Another is that literary works, being the preserve of an elite,
were written on finer materials such as parchment, which have not survived.
Epic Poetry
At the beginning of Greek literature stand the two monumental works of Homer,
the Iliad and the Odyssey. The figure of Homer is shrouded in mystery. Although the
works as they now stand are credited to him, it is certain that their roots reach far back
before his time (see Homeric Question). The Iliad is the famous story about the
Trojan War. It centers on the person of Achilles, who embodied the Greek heroic
ideal.
While the Iliad is pure tragedy, the Odyssey is a mixture of tragedy and comedy.
It is the story of Odysseus, one of the warriors at Troy. After ten years fighting the war,
he spends another ten years sailing back home to his wife and family. During his
ten-year voyage, he loses all of his comrades and ships and makes his way home to
Ithaca disguised as a beggar. Both of these works were based on ancient legends. The
stories are told in language that is simple, direct, and eloquent. Both are as
fascinatingly readable today as they were in ancient Greece.
The other great poet of the preclassical period was Hesiod. Unlike Homer,
Hesiod speaks of himself in his poetry; it remains true that nothing is known about
him from any external source. He was a native of Boeotia in central Greece, and is
thought to have lived and worked around 700 BC. His two works were Works and
Days and Theogony. The first is a faithful depiction of the poverty-stricken country
life he knew so well, and it sets forth principles and rules for farmers. Theogony is a
systematic account of creation and of the gods. It vividly describes the ages of
mankind, beginning with a long-past Golden Age. Together the works of Homer and
Hesiod comprised a kind of Bible for the Greeks; Homer told the story of a heroic
relatively-near past, which Hesiod bracketed with a creation narrative and an account
of the practical realities of contemporary daily life.
Lyric Poetry
Main article: Nine lyric poets
The type of poetry called lyric got its name from the fact that it was originally
sung by individuals or a chorus accompanied by the instrument called the lyre. The
first of the lyric poets was probably Archilochus of Paros, circa 700 BC. Only
fragments remain of his work, as is the case with most of the poets. The few remnants
suggest that he was an embittered adventurer who led a very turbulent life.
Tragedy
The Greeks invented the epic and lyric forms and used them skillfully. They also
invented drama and produced masterpieces that are still reckoned as drama's crowning
achievement. In the age that followed the Greco-Persian Wars, the awakened national
spirit of Athens was expressed in hundreds of superb tragedies based on heroic and
legendary themes of the past. The tragic plays grew out of simple choral songs and
dialogues performed at festivals of the god Dionysus. Wealthy citizens were chosen to
bear the expense of costuming and training the chorus as a public and religious duty.
Attendance at the festival performances was regarded as an act of worship.
Performances were held in the great open-air theater of Dionysus in Athens. All of the
greatest poets competed for the prizes offered for the best plays.
Comedy
Like tragedy, comedy arose from a ritual in honor of Dionysus, but in this case
the plays were full of frank obscenity, abuse, and insult. At Athens the comedies
became an official part of the festival celebration in 486 BC, and prizes were offered
for the best productions. As with the tragedians, few works still remain of the great
comedic writers. Of the works of earlier writers, only some plays by Aristophanes
exist. These are a treasure trove of comic presentation. He poked fun at everyone and
every institution. For boldness of fantasy, for merciless insult, for unqualified
indecency, and for outrageous and free political criticism, there is nothing to compare
to the comedies of Aristophanes. In The Birds he held up Athenian democracy to
ridicule. In The Clouds he attacked the philosopher Socrates. In Lysistrata he
denounced war. Only 11 of his plays have survived.
(2)Hellenistic Age
By 338 BC all of the Greek city-states except Sparta had been conquered by
Philip II of Macedon. Philip's son Alexander the Great extended his father's conquests
greatly. In so doing he inaugurated what is called the Hellenistic Ages. Alexander's
conquests were in the East, and Greek culture shifted first in that direction. Athens
lost its preeminent status as the leader of Greek culture, and it was replaced
temporarily by Alexandria, Egypt.
The city of Alexandria in northern Egypt became, from the 3rd century BC, the
outstanding center of Greek culture. It also soon attracted a large Jewish population,
making it the largest center for Jewish scholarship in the ancient world. In addition, it
later became a major focal point for the development of Christian thought. The
Museum, or Shrine to the Muses, which included the library and school, was founded
by Ptolemy I. The institution was from the beginning intended as a great international
school and library. The library, eventually containing more than a half million
volumes, was mostly in Greek. It served as a repository for every Greek work of the
classical period that could be found.
Hellenistic poetry
Later Greek poetry flourished primarily in the 3rd century BC. The chief poets
were Theocritus, Callimachus, and Apollonius of Rhodes. Theocritus, who lived from
about 310 to 250 BC, was the creator of pastoral poetry, a type that the Roman Virgil
mastered in his Eclogues. Of his rural-farm poetry, Harvest Feast is considered the
best work. He also wrote mimes, poetic plays set in the country as well as minor epics
and lyric poetry.
Callimachus, who lived at the same time as Theocritus, worked his entire adult
life at Alexandria, compiling a catalogue of the library. Only fragments of his poetry
survive. The most famous work was Aetia (Causes). It is a kind of poem called an
elegy and in four books explains the legendary origin of obscure customs, festivals,
and names. Its structure became a model for the work of the Roman poet Ovid. Of his
elegies for special occasions, the best known is the 'Lock of Berenice', a piece of court
poetry that was later adapted by the Roman Catullus. Callimachus also wrote short
poems for special occasions and at least one short epic, the 'Ibis', which was directed
against his former pupil Apollonius.
Apollonius of Rhodes was born about 295 BC. He is best remembered for his
epic the 'Argonautica', about Jason and his shipmates in search of the golden fleece.
Apollonius studied under Callimachus, with whom he later quarreled. He also served
as librarian at Alexandria for about 13 years. Apart from the 'Argonautica', he wrote
poems on the foundation of cities as well as a number of epigrams. The Roman poet
Virgil was strongly influenced by the 'Argonautica' in writing his Aeneid. Lesser
3rd-century poets include Aratus of Soli and Herodas. Aratus wrote the 'Phaenomena',
a poetic version of a treatise on the stars by Eudoxus of Cnidus, who had lived in the
4th century. Herodas wrote mimes reminiscent of those of Theocritus. His works give
a hint of the popular entertainment of the times. Mime and pantomime were a major
form of entertainment during the early Roman Empire
(3)The Hellenistic and Roman Periods
While the transition from city-state to empire affected philosophy a great deal,
shifting the emphasis from political theory to personal ethics, Greek letters continued
to flourish both under the Successors (especially the Ptolemies) and under Roman rule.
Romans of literary or rhetorical inclination looked to Greek models, and Greek
literature of all types continued to be read and produced both by native speakers of
Greek and later by Roman authors as well. A notable characteristic of this period was
the expansion of literary criticism as a genre, particularly as exemplified by
Demetrius, Pseudo-Longinus and Dionysius of Halicarnassus. The Greek novel,
typified by Chariton's Callirhoe and the Hero and Leander of Pseudo-Musaeus, also
emerged. The New Testament, written by various authors in varying qualities of
Koine Greek also hails from this period, the most important works being the Gospels
and the Epistles of Saint Paul.
Historiography
The significant historians in the period after Alexander were Timaeus, Polybius,
Diodorus Siculus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Appian of Alexandria, Arrian, and
Plutarch. The period of time they cover extended from late in the 4th century BC to
the 2nd century AD.
Timaeus was born in Sicily but spent most of his life in Athens. His 'History',
though lost, is significant because of its influence on Polybius. In 38 books it covered
the history of Sicily and Italy to the year 264 BC, which is where Polybius began his
work. Timaeus also wrote the 'Olympionikai', a valuable chronological study of the
Olympic Games. Polybius was born about 200 BC. He was brought to Rome as a
hostage in 168. At Rome he became a friend of the general Scipio Aemilianus. He
probably accompanied the general to Spain and North Africa in the wars against
Carthage. He was with Scipio at the destruction of Carthage in 146. The history on
which his reputation rests consisted of 40 books, five of which have been preserved
along with various excerpts. They are a vivid recreation of Rome's rise to world power.
A lost book, 'Tactics', was on military matters.
Diodorus Siculus lived in the 1st century BC, the time of Julius Caesar and
Augustus. He wrote a universal history, 'Bibliotheca historica', in 40 books. Of these,
the first five and the 11th through the 20th remain. The first two parts covered history
through the early Hellenistic era. The third part takes the story to the beginning of
Caesar's wars in Gaul, now France. Dionysius of Halicarnassus lived late in the 1st
century BC. His history of Rome from its origins to the First Punic War (264 to 241
BC) is written from a Roman point of view, but it is carefully researched. He also
wrote a number of other treatises, including 'On Imitation', 'Commentaries on the
Ancient Orators', and 'On the Arrangement of Words'.
Appian and Arrian both lived in the 2nd century AD. Appian wrote on Rome and
its conquests, while Arrian is remembered for his work on the campaigns of
Alexander the Great. Arrian served in the Roman army. His book therefore
concentrates heavily on the military aspects of Alexander's life. Arrian also wrote a
philosophical treatise, the 'Diatribai', based on the teachings of his mentor Epictetus .
Best known of the late Greek historians to modern readers is Plutarch, who died about
AD 119. His 'Parallel Lives' of great Greek and Roman leaders has been read by every
generation since the work was first published. His other surviving work is the
'Moralia', a collection of essays on ethical, religious, political, physical, and literary
topics.
Greek Mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient
Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and
significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in
ancient Greece. Modern scholars refer to the myths and study them in an attempt to
throw light on the religious and political institutions of Ancient Greece, its civilization,
and to gain understanding of the nature of myth-making itself.
Greek mythology is embodied explicitly in a large collection of narratives and
implicitly in representational arts, such as vase-paintings and votive gifts. Greek myth
explains the origins of the world and details the lives and adventures of a wide variety
of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines, and other mythological creatures. These
accounts initially were disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition; today the Greek myths
are known primarily from Greek literature.
The oldest known Greek literary sources, the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey,
focus on events surrounding the Trojan War. Two poems by Homer's near
contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the
genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages,
the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths also are
preserved in the Homeric Hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in
lyric poems, in the works of the tragedians of the fifth century BC, in writings of
scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age and in texts from the time of the Roman
Empire by writers such as Plutarch and Pausanias.
Archaeological findings provide a principal source of detail about Greek
mythology, with gods and heroes featured prominently in the decoration of many
artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth century BC depict scenes from
the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles. In the succeeding Archaic,
Classical, and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes
appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence.
Greek mythology has exerted an extensive influence on the culture, the arts, and
the literature of Western civilization and remains part of Western heritage and
language. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration
from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance
in these mythological themes.
The Greeks were polytheistic in their religious beliefs. Polytheistic means they
believed in and worshiped many different gods. In Greek mythology, the gods often
represented different forms of nature. Their religion/mythology had no formal
structure with the exception of various festivals held in honor of the gods. There was
no sacred book or code of conduct to live by. The most powerful Greek gods were
known as the Olympians. The Greeks believed the Olympians lived on the highest
mountain in Greece, Mount Olympus. The Olympian gods included: Zeus, Hera,
Apollo, Aphrodite, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hades, Hermes, Hephaestus,
Poseidon and Hestia or later she was replaced in some lists by Dionysus.
The following are the Major Gods and Godesses of Greek Mythology
Zeus - King of the Gods
Hera - Queen of the Gods
Aphrodite - goddess of love and beauty
Apollo - god of light, truth, healing, archery, music, poetry
Ares - god of war
Artemis - goddess of hunt, moon, children
Athena - goddess of wisdom, war, patriotism and good citizenship
Demeter - goddess of grain, agriculture, fertility
Dionysus - god of wine, vegetation, and theater
Hades - god of the underworld
Hephaestus - god of forge and fire
Hermes - messenger of the gods, god of motion, travelers, commerce, thieves,
and sheep
Hestia - goddess of the hearth and home
Poseidon - god of the sea, earthquakes, and horses